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Larry ten Voorde (NL/MRS GT-Racing) takes up round five of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup at the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg from pole position. The youngster from the Netherlands got the most out of his 485 hp Porsche 911 GT3 Cup on Saturday and turned the fastest lap in a time of 1:41.245 minutes. “I think my lap was almost perfect. Such a close qualifying is also a matter of using your head. I stayed calm and my lap times got better and better,” said ten Voorde. Dylan Pereira (Momo Megatron Lechner Racing) from Luxembourg lines up alongside the Dutchman on the first grid row, with Michael Ammermüller (D/BWT Lechner Racing) starting from third.

While the 32-strong field had to cope with sweltering temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius during Friday’s practice, the qualifying session was held under cloudy skies and a temperature of 28 degrees Celsius. Ten Voorde immediately posted the top time in the 30-minute session, which no other competitor could top initially. However, that changed in the final minutes: Pereira lapped the 4.574-kilometre circuit in 1:41.258 minutes, only to have ten Voorde make a countermove and undercut the Luxembourger’s time by 0.013 seconds. “On my flying lap I had to pass a slower vehicle and that probably cost me a little time. Pole position would have been perfect, but Hockenheim offers several places to overtake,” said Pereira. This is the first time this season that the 22-year-old starts from the front grid row.

The two-time champion Ammermüller is still waiting for his first Supercup victory in front of home crowds. The German takes up Sunday’s race from position three, after clocking a qualifying time of 1:41.597 minutes. “I actually expected a better result but ultimately I simply made one or two mistakes too many. Still, I have a good feeling that I’ll be amongst the frontrunners in the race,” said Ammermüller. Lining up on the grid behind the seasoned specialist from Rotthalmünster is Tio Ellinas (CY/Momo Megatron Lechner Racing) and Florian Latorre (F/Fach Auto Tech). Sixth in qualifying went to Porsche Junior Julien Andlauer (F/BWT Lechner Racing). “Of course I had hoped to do better, but at Silverstone I started from sixth and finished on the podium, so that’s encouraging. What’s more, we might get rain on Sunday and that’ll have a big influence on the conditions,” said Andlauer.

Al Faisal Al Zubair (OM/Lechner Racing Middle East) tackles the race on P7, with the following grid positions occupied by Mikkel Pedersen (DK/Dinamic Motorsport), Jaap van Lagen (NL/martinet by ALMÉRAS) and Ayhancan Güven (TR/martinet by ALMÉRAS) as the best rookie. Behind the trio, Porsche Junior Jaxon Evans (Fach Auto Tech) narrowly missed out on qualifying in the top ten. “Unfortunately I made a critical mistake on my fastest lap. That cost me a better placing. I finished third here in the German Carrera Cup and that makes me optimistic. My goal for Sunday is a top ten result,” said the New Zealander. The fastest ProAm driver was Roar Lindland (N/pierre martinet by ALMÉRAS) ahead of Philipp Sager (A/Dinamic Motorsport) und Stephen Grove (AUS/Team Australia).

A guest team from the PorscheCarrera Cup Scandinavia will contest the Hockenheim round with two vehicles. Driving the two nine-eleven this weekend are Sweden’s Robin Hansson and Pontus Fredricsson. The pair currently ranks second and third in the Scandinavian one-make cup. Round five of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup gets underway on Sunday at 11.25am local time. Eurosport televises the race live in over 60 countries. Sky covers the international one-make cup in Great Britain and Italy, with Sport1 broadcasting in Germany. Fans can also watch the race live via the official Formula 1 streaming service (F1 TV).